Mage
Inheritors of Sendrellar and the foremost arcanists on Torar, mages are found in every culture and civilization throughout the world. After events during the Culling destroyed the Great Prism around Sendrellar and all the chromatic mages lost their powers, many thought that the arcane sciences were lost to the world. Thankfully, the brightest scholars in the lands, led by Absulcon, converged on the ruined city and managed to cobble together enough of the remnants of the chromatics’ lore to create a new discipline in their stead. Adventures Mages conduct their adventures with caution and forethought. When prepared, they can use their spells to devastating effect. When caught by surprise, they are vulnerable. They seek knowledge, power, and the resources to conduct their studies. They may also have any of the noble or ignoble motivations that other adventurers have. Characteristics The mage’s strength is his spells. Everything else is secondary. He learns new spells as he experiments and grows in experience, and he can also learn them from other mages. In addition to learning new spells, a mage can, over time, learn to manipulate his spells so they go farther, work better, or are improved in some other way. Some mages prefer to specialize in a certain color of magic. Specialization makes a mage more powerful in his chosen color and grants him unique abilities, but it denies him access to some of the spells that lie outside that field. Alignment Overall, mages show a slight tendency toward law over chaos because the study of magic rewards those who are disciplined. Chymurges and unmakers, however, are masters of deception and change, respectively. They favor chaos over law. Religion Mages once revered Saphoy, the Supreme Mage, god of magic. Some still do, even after his death (some even because of it). Devolutionists and misanthropic mages may prefer Oros, god of death. However, mages in general are more devoted to their studies than to their spiritual sides. Background Mages recognize each other as comrades or rivals. Even mages from very different cultures or magical traditions have much in common because they all conform to the same laws of magic. Unlike fighters or rogues, mages see themselves as members of a distinct, if diverse, group. All mages begin their tutelage in Sendrellar, though some may be transferred willingly or not to one of the smaller, satellite schools that dot the lands of Torar. While mages of different specializations may look down their noses at each other, they cannot deny each other’s identity as a mage. Races Humans take to arcane studies for any of various reasons: curiosity, ambition, lust for power, or just personal inclination. Human mages tend to be practical immovators, creating new spells or using old spells creatively. Avarta and some gnomes are enthralled by magic, and many of them become mages for love of the art. These mages see themselves as artists, and they hold magic in high regard as a wondrous mystery, as opposed to the more pragmatic human mages, who see magic more as a set of tools or tricks. Moriedhel seek to become mages for the personal power that arcanists possess. They are dangerous and will stop at nothing to continue amassing more and more arcane might. Elves, dwarves, and lamni are rarely mages as their cultures don’t encourage the study of magic. Other Classes Mages prefer to work with members of other classes. They love to cast their spells from behind strong fighters, to “magic up” rogues and send them out to scout, and to rely on the divine healing of clerics. They may find members of certain classes (such as sorcerers, rogues, and bards) to be not quite serious enough, but they’re not judgmental. Game Rule Information Abilities: Intelligence is paramount for mages. Their spellcasting and many of their abilities are based exclusively off of Intelligence, as are many of their class skills. Since mages cannot commonly wear armor, many find strong Dexterity and Constitution scores helpful in staying alive. Other abilities are less important to mages. Hit Die: d4. Starting Gold: 3d4 x 10 gp. Starting Age: Complex (+40% of adulthood). Class Skills: The following are the class skills (and the relevant ability for each) of the mage class: Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Decipher Script (Int), Knowledge (all skills, taken individually) (Int), Profession (Wis), and Spellcraft (Int). Skill Points: 2 + Int modifier. Table: The Mage Class Features The following are the class features of the mage class: Weapon and Armor Proficiencies A mage is proficient with all simple weapons, but no armor or shields. Table: Mage Spells Per Day Spellcasting A mage casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the sorcerer/mage spell list. A mage must choose and prepare his spells ahead of time. To learn, prepare, or cast a spell, a mage must have an Intelligence score equal to at least 10 + the spell's level. The Difficulty Class for a saving throw against a mage's spell is 10 + spell level + Intelligence modifier. A mage can cast only a certain number of spells of each spell level per day (excluding invocations, see below). The mage receives bonus spells per day for having a high Intelligence score. A mage may know any number of spells (see Spellbooks below). A mage’s spell slots regenerate after good night's sleep. If he did not have such a luxury, he cannot fill emptied slots until he rests. He must spend an hour studying his spellbook after sleeping to regain used spells. While studying the mage decides which spells to prepare. Spellbooks A mage must study his spellbook each day to prepare his spells. He cannot prepare any spell not recorded in his spellbook, except for read magic, which all mages can prepare from memory. A mage begins play with a spellbook containing all 0-level mage spells (except those from his prohibited color, if any; see Color Specializations below) plus a number of 1st level spells equal to 3 + his Intelligence modifier. At each new mage level he gains two new spells of any spell level or levels that he can cast (based on his new mage level) in his spellbook. At any time, a mage can also add spells found in other mage’s spellbooks to his own (see Adding Spells to a Spellbook, page 178 of the Player’s Handbook v3.5). Invocations A mage can cast some spells are invocations. That means that he doesn't need to spend a slot of an appropriate level to cast that spell. Any spell cast as an invocation uses a reduced caster level, as shown on table: Spells Per Day. A mage can cast invocations even if he has no slots left. At 1st level, a mage learns how to cast one 0-level spell from the list below as an invocation (provided that spell is in his spellbook). At 2nd level and every 3 levels thereafter, a mage learns how to cast another spell from the list below as invocation. A mage can choose a spell he doesn't yet have in his spellbook, but he is unable to cast it until he learns it. He cannot, however, choose a spell he can't yet cast because his class level is too low to access that level of spells. The list of spells a mage can cast as invocations is: • 0-level - acid splash, daze, flare, ray of frost, disrupt undead, mage hand, prestidigitation, resistance, touch of fatigue. • 1st level - mage armor, true strike, burning hands, magic missile, shocking grasp, cause fear, chill touch, ray of enfeeblement, jump, magic weapon. • 2nd level - Melf's acid arrow, daze monster, touch of idiocy, flaming sphere, gust of wind, scorching ray, shatter, scare, protection from arrows. • 3rd level - dispel magic, sleet storm, hold person, rage, fireball, lightning bolt, ray of exhaustion, vampiric touch, flame arrow, keen edge. • 4th level - crushing despair, bestow curse, fire shield, ice storm, shout, contagion, enervation, fear. • 5th level - dismissal, Rary's telepathic bond, Bigby's interposing hand, cone of cold, waves of fatigue, telekinesis. Color Specialization A color is one of eleven groupings of spells, each defined by a common theme. If desired, a mage may specialize in one color of magic (see below). Specialization allows a mage to cast extra spells from his chosen color, and grants a special power depending on the color chosen, but because of the focus he places on one color he finds the energies of another color alien and uncontrollable. A specialist mage can prepare one additional spell of his specialty color per spell level each day. His caster level for casting spells from his color is increased by +1 as well. He also gains a +2 bonus on Spellcraft checks to learn the spells of his chosen color (see Adding Spells to a Spellbook, page 178 of the Player’s Handbook v3.5). The mage must choose whether to specialize and, if he does so, choose his specialty color at 1st level. At this time he must also give up spells from the chosen color’s opposing color (see below), though a Grey specialist must choose any two other colors to give up instead. Spells of the prohibited color or colors are not available to the mage, and he can’t even cast such spells from scrolls or fire them from wands. He may not change either his specialization or his prohibited colors later. The eleven colors of magic are black, blue, brown, green, grey, indigo, orange, purple, red, white, and yellow. Spells that do not fall into any of these colors are called chrome spells. A mage cannot specialize in chrome spells. Black: Spells that protect and negate, as well as earth-based magic. The mage reduces the arcane spell failure caused by wearing armor by his class level (so a 6th level mage with this specialization would reduce the amount of arcane spell failure caused by armor by -6%). Also, any spell resistance the mage possesses or gains that isn’t granted by an item or temporary effect is increased by his Constitution modifier. A Black specialist is called a cthonurge. Prohibited color: White. Blue: Spells that deal with time, sigils and glyphs, and the nature of magic itself. The mage can spontaneously counterspell other spellcasters as an immediate action, and without knowing what spell is being cast (he still must sacrifice a spell of equal level to counterspell). Additionally, any beneficial magical effect from an arcane source that affects the mage also affects a number of his allies equal to his Intelligence modifier. The recipients must all be within 10 ft. of him at the time the benefit is gained. A Blue specialist is called a metamage. Prohibited color: Orange. Brown: Spells of location manipulation, force effects, as well as alteration and creation of physical materials (such as the fabricate spell). The cost of raw materials for crafting mundane and magical items is reduced by double the mage’s class level (maximum of an 80% cost reduction). Also the mage may add half his class level to the caster level of any wand, staff, or scroll. This may not make the item’s caster level higher than the mage’s own caster level. A Brown specialist is called a demiurge. Prohibited color: Green. Green: Spells of animal and plant summoning and manipulation, as well as those affecting the weather. The mage gains an animal companion as if he were a druid of half his class level, rounded down (minimum 1). A Green specialist is called an animist. Prohibited color: Brown. Grey: Spells of sound, shadow, illusion, and darkness. The mage’s Scribe Scroll feat instead becomes Scribe Spell Card. A spell card functions exactly like a scroll, except that only the scriber can use them, and they are used as swift actions. Multiple spell cards may be used per round, up to the number of actions the mage has in that round (commonly 3: a swift action, a move action, and a standard action). The mage can hold up to his Dexterity modifier worth of spell cards at the ready. Adding to or changing his readied spell cards is a move equivalent action for the mage. A Grey specialist is called a chymurge. Prohibited color: any two other colors. Indigo: Spells of thought manipulation, fear, and other mind-affecting spells. The mage may forgo the verbal component to any spell he casts if it has one. For spells that normally require the mage to speak in some way the target(s) must be able to see the mage when he casts the spell while he communicates telepathically. An Indigo specialist is called a skeptomancer. Prohibited color: Red. Orange: Spells of shape changing, acid-based effects, and alien or aberrant effects. The mage’s spells are all affected by a bit of chaos. Any time he casts an arcane spell he rolls 1d6-3 and applies the result to his caster level. A resultant caster level of 0 or less indicates the spell failed but is still considered expended. An Orange specialist is called an unmaker. Prohibited color: Blue. Purple: Spells that deal with the dead and undead, cold-based effects, as well as energy draining spells. The mage can command or rebuke undead like an evil cleric. He may do so a number of times per day equal to 3 + Charisma modifier. A Purple specialist is called a devolutionist. Prohibited color: Yellow. Red: Spells dealing with movement and speed, electricity, and fire. The mage may enter a state known as Fury once per day. Fury lasts up to 3 + Con modifier in rounds. During Fury the mage must cast a spell every round or it will end prematurely. Once the Fury has subsided the mage is fatigued. A fatigued mage cannot enter Fury. Fury increases the mage’s caster level and Intelligence score by +4 for its duration. A Red specialist is called a battlemage. Prohibited color: Indigo. White: Spells of clairvoyance, contacting other planes, and summoning. The mage gains the Lore ability, which allows him to make a special lore check in place of any Knowledge check. The mage adds his caster level and his Intelligence modifier to lore checks. Additionally the mage chooses to either gain the evasion ability, or to be able to cast the vision spell once per day as a spell-like ability. A White specialist is called an Oracle. Prohibited color: Black. Yellow: Spells of healing, rejuvenation, and emotional manipulation. The mage may add all cure spells (minor, light, moderate, serious, and critical) to his list of available invocations. He does not need to have these spells in his spellbook to be able to cast them as invocations. These spells are considered one spell level higher than they are for clerics (i.e. cure light wounds is considered a 2nd level spell for the mage). Yellow specialists are called Physicians. Prohibited color: Purple. Scribe Scroll The mage gains the Scribe Scroll feat for free at 1st level. Spell Matrix (Ex) The mage’s training teaches him the cyclical nature of arcane magic. Each hour he may regain a single 0- or 1st level spell slot. The maximum level of spell he can regain increases at levels 7, 13, and 20. Arcane Science At 2nd, 6th, 10th, 14th, and 18th levels, the mage gains a minor ability to manipulate magic in some way. Unless otherwise stated, each arcane science can only be taken once. • Abuse Spell (Ex): The mage can cast any spell at increased power, at the cost of damaging that spell. Whenever a mage casts a spell, he can cast it at +2 caster level and +4 DC to any saving throw. If he does however, he cannot cast that spell for next 7 days even as an invocation. This arcane science may be taken multiple times, each time increasing the caster level by +1 and the save DC by +2. • Artificer (Ex): The mage spends 10% less gold and experience points when creating magic items other than scrolls or potions. He also requires 10% less time to make those items. This arcane science may be taken multiple times, each time granting an additional 10% discount in money, experience, and time. • Bonus Feat: The mage gains bonus feat from the Eldritch category. This arcane science can be taken multiple times. • Charged Invocation (Ex): The mage can cast one known invocation at +2 caster level. He can take this arcane science more than once, each time choosing a different invocation. • Compressed Casting (Ex): Whenever the mage casts a spell with duration of at least 3 rounds, he can cast it as a compressed spell. The spell's duration becomes 2 rounds, but all caster level dependent effects are calculated at caster level +2 and the spell's DC (if any) increases by +2. This arcane science may be taken multiple times, each time increasing both the benefits by +1. • Energized Casting (Ex): The mage can cast spells for a longer time to make them more potent. For each round of casting added to the original time, the spell’s DC and caster level dependent effects increase by +1. Only spells with a casting time of 1 round or less can be affected by this ability and a mage cannot energize for more rounds than his Intelligence modifier. • Far Casting (Ex): All spells cast by the mage have their ranges increase by 1 step. If the range is non-standard, it increases by 50%. If the range is personal or touch, the spell is unaffected by this arcane science. • Legacy of the Mind (Ex): Whenever the mage successfully casts a spell that has no effect because of a successful saving throw or spell resistance, he immediately gains an empty spell slot 1 level lower than the spell cast occupied. The empty slot can be used to power metamagic effects, or by spending 5 minutes per spell level the mage can study his spellbook and fill it with an appropriate spell. This extra spell slot remains for 1 hour. Spells cast as invocations do not trigger this ability. • Quick Study (Ex): The mage has been studying spellbooks for so long it has become second nature. He only needs 10 minutes instead of 1 hour to study his spellbook each day. If the mage also has the Legacy of the Mind arcane science, he only needs to spend 1 minute per spell level to fill empty spell slots granted by that ability. • Reforge Item (Ex): The mage can disjoin magic items to harvest the power held within. The process requires 1 hour, at the end of which the mage can add a number of points to his artificial essence (see below) equal to ½ the XP required to create the item. For instance, if a mage reforged a +5 longsword (which costs 2,000 XP to create) he would add 1,000 points to his pool. A charged item that isn't fully charged only contributes a proportional amount of XP. For instance, a wand with only 25 charges would contribute half the normal points of a fully charged wand. • Straining Invocation (Ex): The mage can cast any invocation spell at full caster level. If he does, he cannot cast that spell as invocation until the beginning of next day. Artificial Essence The mage gains a small but growing amount of experience points to spend on all things magical. Beginning at 4th level, he gains a number of experience points equal to his mage level x10 that only be spent on item creation or on spells with an XP component (this pool of experience points should be kept separately from any other experience; it cannot be used for any other purpose). The pool is refreshed and increased appropriately each new level, but any XP left in the pool is lost (For example, a level 9 mage had 90 XP in this pool and spent 63 XP making some scrolls. When the mage reaches level 10, the 27 XP left in the pool is lost and his pool is reset to 100 XP.) Professional Notation (Ex) Starting at 8th level, the mage learns how to compress the amount of space each spell in his spellbook takes up through abbreviations, footnotes, and indexed entries. This effectively allows him to keep double the normal amount of spells in his spellbook. It has the added effect of making his spells harder to copy. Anyone attempting to copy a spell from the mage’s spellbook without the mage himself present to help suffers a -6 penalty to Spellcraft rolls made to copy the spells. High Arcana At level 12, and again at 16 and 20, a mage gains a powerful special ability from the list below. Sacrificing spell slots is a swift action that doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity. • Arcane Fire (Su): The mage can sacrifice a 7th level or higher slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, spells he casts that deal acid, cold, electricity, fire, or sonic damage instead deal arcane damage. (Similarly to divine damage, there are no resistances against arcane damage.) • Arcane Reach (Su): The mage can sacrifice a 5th level or higher slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, he can use spells with a range of touch on targets up to 30 feet away. The mage must make a ranged touch attack with those spells. If the target is willing, their effective AC for this attack is 10. • Chronomancy (Ex): The mage can sacrifice a 5th level or higher slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, all his spells of level 2 or lower are automatically Extended (as per feat). • High Echelon (Ex): The mage can sacrifice a 5th level slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, all his spells of level 2 or lower are automatically Enlarged (as per feat). • Inevitable Spellcasting (Ex): The mage can sacrifice a 6th level or higher slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, he increases the DC of all his spells by 1. Multiple uses of this ability are cumulative. • Inner Voice (Ex): The mage can sacrifice a 5th level or higher slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, all his spells of level 2 or lower are automatically Silenced (as per feat). This high arcane has no effect for skeptomancers. • Mastery of Counterspelling (Ex): The mage can sacrifice a 4th level or higher slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, whenever he counterspells a spell, he turns it back to the original caster as if it was fully affected by a spell turning. If the spell cannot be turned, it is merely counterspelled. • Mastery of Shaping (Ex): The mage can sacrifice a 4th level or higher slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, he can alter the area of effect of spells that use one of the following shapes: burst, cone, cylinder, emanation, or spread. The alteration consists of creating spaces within the spell’s area or effect that are not subject to the spell. The minimum dimension for these spaces is a 5-foot cube. • Monolith Spellcasting (Ex): The mage can sacrifice a 5th level or higher slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, all his spells of level 2 or lower are automatically Stilled (as per feat). • Chromatic Spellcasting (Ex): The mage can sacrifice a 4th level or higher slot to use this ability for one hour. If he does, he may choose which color a spell is considered to belong to when he casts it instead of its normal color. He cannot choose to make a spell one of his prohibited colors. Descriptors are not affected by this ability. This ability does not grant the mage the capability of casting spells from a prohibited color. Category:Classes Category:Arcane Classes